Jemele Hill Says Racism Is Real Reason People Hate Athletes Talking Politics

Jemele Hill says athletes speaking out about important issues wasn’t a problem for centuries in the U.S. — but when Black athletes started using their platform to talk politics, everything changed.

The veteran sports journalist and activist joined us Thursday on “TMZ Live” … and, she tells us even George Washington used sports to talk politics when he was running for office — plying guests with alcohol and playing competitive games to win their votes.

Hill says that’s just one interesting anecdote she digs into for the first episode of her new podcast “Spolitics” — and adds, famous athletes are still just citizens, so they’ve got every right to speak their minds about how they’re voting.

JH says there’s a long history of this, but when Black athletes finally broke the color barrier in major professional sports, people flipped the script — calling the rhetoric divisive.

Hill often speaks out about political issues, dating back to 2017, when she called then-President Donald Trump a “white supremacist.” She left ESPN shortly after, later blasting the workplace’s “conservative culture.”

Now, she’ll further explore the intersection between sports and politics on “Spolitics” … when debuts on October 17. She and Cari Champion also cohost the Vice TV series “Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports.”

As for whether there’s anyone in sports big enough to really turn the tide in politics like Taylor Swift might with her endorsement of Kamala Harris … Jemele mentions one name in particular — watch the clip to hear who she thinks has the pull to spark a sports-politics FEVER.

Anyhoo … she’s encouraging athletes to keep speaking out on politics, and telling fans to rethink the whole “divisive” label.